Silva focused on the present

Head coach Marco Silva has urged his Everton players not to look too far ahead, with the Toffees currently in sixth place in the Premier League standings.

Having suffered a heartbreaking 1-0 derby loss at Liverpool on Sunday, the Blues are back in action on Wednesday evening when they welcome Newcastle United to Goodison Park.

And Silva is keen to maintain a short-term focus and not get swept away by talk of a possible top-six finish, especially with Everton having finished in eighth place last season, some 14 points adrift of sixth-placed Arsenal.

The Portuguese told reporters: "For us, it's not important to talk about the top six. Our goal is to do better than last season.

"We achieve things step by step. Here we think game by game and we are taking it from the last match."

Everton are 8/15 to defeat Newcastle and are 6/1 to secure a 2-0 victory, with Richarlison priced at 5/4 to score at any time against the Magpies.

Meanwhile, Silva also played down rumours that his club are already on the lookout for a new striker, with his squad short of genuine goalscoring power.

He added: "In January, it is not the moment to talk about it now. We are doing our work, developing our squad now.

"When the market opens we are able to answer what we can do in that moment. At this moment, it is not the most important thing for me.

"About a striker, if any team can have a 20-goal striker they are not easy to find. We have to work with the players we have in our squad, give them the conditions to score more goals."